Iran Lawmaker Downplays Osama Death

TEHRAN, May 2 (ICANA) – A senior Iranian lawmaker has raised doubt about the US claim that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has been killed by American forces near Islamabad.

Monday, May 02, 2011 7:55:48 PM

“We are not sure how accurate the announcement made by the United States is as they have in the past claimed that Bin Laden has been killed,” head of the Parliament (Majlis) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi was quoted by ISNA as saying on Monday.

”Today 47 or 48 countries have military forces in Afghanistan,” he said.

“They haven't accomplished much even if in fact they (the US) are telling the truth about having killed Bin Laden after ten years,” Boroujerdi concluded.

On Sunday, US President Barack Obama announced that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces after he was found hiding in a compound in Pakistan.

This is while analysts and military experts believe that the United States had delayed the killing of bin Laden to continue the presence of US-led forces in war-torn Afghanistan, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The US president further said that "The US has never been and will never be at war with Islam," adding that bin Laden was also a mass-murderer of Muslims.

The announcement of bin Laden's death comes almost ten years after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Meanwhile, a US official says bin Laden's body has been buried at sea, alleging that his hasty burial was in accordance with Islamic law, which requires burial within 24 hours of death.

This is while burial at sea is not an Islamic practice and Islam does not determine a timeframe for burial.

The official added that finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world's most wanted man was difficult, so the US decided to bury him at sea.